eLC Plan Jan '14 NCVPS AP teachers

Inspecting what we expect from our courses and teaching!

eLC Plan Jan '14 NCVPS AP teachers

Inspecting what we expect from our courses and teaching!

Rationale for ELC Plan for our NCVPS Advanced Placement Teachers

AP teachers, we appreciate you very much! Teaching an AP course that is also yearlong is not an easy task, and I am sure often feels like a demanding, thankless job. AP courses are demanding, for both the student and the teacher, and please know how much we appreciate your work.

We want our AP scores to be at or above the state and national averages. That's our first goal. Once we achieve this goal, then we want our AP scores to be 80% or higher. So, in general, we have some work to do either to get to the state and national averages or to push higher.

We understand there are many factors contributing to scores that are lower than state or national averages. Largely, our AP courses need to be revised into our effective NCVPS Instructional Design structure and that process has been slow due to the priority of Common Core and Essential Standards. However, each semester we will be able to focus on several AP courses for revision either through mini-contracts or through a full revision.

But this time limitation can't stop us from doing what we can to make sure we are providing our AP students with the best learning options available so that they are prepared for the AP exam in May. Our students must not only know content, but they must be very comfortable with what they will be asked to do on exam day.

So we will spend the next few months analyzing our data and working to make sure we understand why our scores are as they are and what we can do to improve the learning for our students.

Week of January 27th

For our first week, we want to make sure we know what our data says. We are limited in the data we are provided so what we are giving you is all the data we have.

There will be sixREFLECTIONS this week!

Review!

Here are the Dufours' Five Data questions that you will use!

• What does the data tell you?

• What does the data not tell you?

• What are the celebrations about the data?

• What opportunities for improvement does the data allow us?

• Based on your analysis of the data, what are the next steps and timeline for next steps?

Getting Started!

Your Director will provide you with your team's data set #1 that will show several columns of information. Your Instructional Leader will copy the new eLC tab into your eLC Google doc Spreadsheet entitled, "AP eLC Reflections January - February 2014."

Wait a few days and come back to this document and read through your team's responses.

Reflect (Reflection #5) on your team's Google doc: What common ideas do you see?

Reflect (Reflection #6) on your team's Google doc: Based on your analysis of the data, what should be your team's next steps?

Thank you for your reflections this week on feedback! Be sure to read the responses of your team! We will continue with our analysis next week.

Week of February 3rd

Welcome back!

Before we get started, your Instructional Leader and/or Course Lead will work with you to set date for your team's live eLC this month, and invite your Director to your live meeting to be a part of the discussion. The week of February 24 would be ideal.

Last week, you examined one set of data that spanned a few years to analyze a broad view of your course's AP data.

This week you will analyze a second document that lists individual student final grades, final exams grades, and the AP score they earned.

Getting Started!

Your Director will provide you with your team's data set #2 that will show several columns of information.

Wait a few days and come back to this document and read through your team's responses.

Reflect (Reflection #5) on your team's Google doc: What common ideas do you see?

Reflect (Reflection #6) on your team's Google doc: Based on your analysis of the data, what should be your team's next steps?

Thank you for your reflections this week on feedback! Be sure to read the responses of your team! We will continue with our analysis next week.

Week of February 10th

Welcome back!

We have spent the last two weeks looking at past data sets. This is good information as it will help us to know where we have been.

Now it is time to move to the present and look at some possible trends in your current section(s).

Using your team's eLC Google doc, look for the week of February 10th. You will have four responses this week! Go ahead and look at the instructions for Record #3 so you can begin work on that piece at the beginning of the week!

Record #1: Based on your currently assigned section(s), provide the number of students you have from the same school. If you don't have more than 3 students located at one school, then indicate this in the response area.

Record #2: How many test review sessions have you held this year? How many are you scheduling for the spring semester? Please indicate your response as #/# such as 3/5.

Now it is time to survey your current students to determine which ones plan to take the AP Exam this May. For those not taking the Exam, please get a reason as to why. Make sure you keep a list of them for your records and for future eLC work. When you have your number taking the Exam, please return to your team's eLC Google doc.

Record #3: Please record the number of your students who indicated (in each course section) that they plan to take the AP Exam in May.

Finally, spend some time reading the responses of your colleagues. For your last response for this week, please Reflect on your team's Google doc (Reflection #1) on what these three pieces of data are telling you. This is a broad reflection!

Thanks for your work this week, and make sure you know the date of your team's LIVE ELC time for the week of February 24!

Week of February 17th

Welcome back!

We have gone back into the past, came back to the present, and now it is time to synthesize and then move forward to make decisions that will impact student success this semester!

For the weeks for January 27th and February 3rd, we looked at past AP score data. You and your team reflected using the Dufours' Five Data Questions.

The last question dealt with next steps -- based on this information, where should we go now? Then, last week, you looked at current trends in your own section(s) based on student groupings, test prep sessions, and students planning to test. You also looked at all this trend information and reflected on what you saw "trending" in this information.

So where do we go from here?

Let's synthesize all information from the last three weeks. If you need to refresh your memory, look back over your responses and your team's responses on the eLC Google doc for the last three weeks.

When you are ready, go to the Week of February 17th section on your team's eLC Google doc. There will be one reflection and five responses this week!

Reflection #1: Based on the data of the last three weeks, what is one action step your team can do now or should begin to address to increase student success in your AP course for this semester?

These answers will be a major focus of discussion next week in your live eLC meeting!

Now, let's begin a deep dive look into your particular AP course.

Focus on the unit your students will be working in next week. This may be your current unit or a new unit.

Take a look at the AP Exam test prep items that are in this unit. Using these test prep items, Record on your team's Google doc an answer to the following question:

Record #1: What is the level of rigor in the items? If there are no test prep items in this unit, find the next closest unit with test prep items. Make sure you identify what unit you are using for your answer.

Now, in Record #2, list the types of AP Exam questions your students from your course can expect to see on the AP Exam such as DBQ, Free Response, Multiple Choice, etc.

In Record #3, answer this question: How often is each type of AP Exam item in the course, and where is it located such as the end of course, the beginning of course, in every module, etc.?

In Record #4, answer this question: What is the level of feedback that the student sees when completing a module post assessment? Who provides this feedback - you as the teacher or built in feedback?

Finally, in Record #5, answer this question: Does remediation exist in the course, and if so, what type and often?

Thank you for your work this week! Live eLC next week!

Week of February 24th

It's LIVE eLC WEEK!

If at all possible, your Director needs to be a part of this team meeting. Your attendance is so important so please make sure you are able to attend this meeting!

Your Director will lead this discussion but we need everyone to participate! Before the meeting, make sure you have reviewed your team's eLC Google doc.

Discussion Questions for the live eLC!

Question 1. Discuss your team's answers to the January 27th's Reflection #5: What common ideas do you see in data set #1? Do your best to stick to just this data set in your discussion.

Question 2. Discuss your team's answers to the February 3rd's Reflection #5: What common ideas do you see in data set #2? Do your best to stick to just this data set in your discussion.

Question 3. You looked at current "trending" information for the week of February 10. Going Round Robin, what takeaways did this week provide you?

Question 4. Last weekyou completed Reflection #1: Based on the data of the last three weeks, what is one action step your team can do now or should begin to address to increase student success in your AP course? Please share your answer with the group.

Question 5. Take a minute to review the information you and your colleagues recorded last week concerning the specific instructional pieces that are in the course. Please share with the group your reflection on what the data revealed to you for this information.

Use your remaining time to come to consensus as a team on THREE ACTION STEPS your group would like to achieve in the next two months based on the information from this last month's eLC work. Please have someone RECORD these THREE ACTION STEPS on your team's eLC Google doc for this week.

We will review these to help us decide your next steps for the March eLC!